January 15, 2024 at 6:00 PM - Board of Education Regular Meeting
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1. Realignment of Board of Education for 2024
Rationale:
Annually, the Board of Education goes through realignment.
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1.1. Election of Officers
Rationale:
Policy #2002 states that at the January meeting of the Board of Education, a President, Vice-President, and Secretary shall be elected from the membership to a one-year term of office. Officers in 2023 were Nate Wyatt, President, Becky Jobman, Vice President, and Kyle Fornoff, Secretary. Dr. Jonas will accept nominations for offices and conduct the elections. Kay Streeter has served as Secretary to the Board and will continue to do so if approved. Randy Waskowiak has served as Board Treasurer and has agreed to continue to do so if approved.
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1.1.1. Election of President
Rationale:
Nominations for the office of president will be accepted. No second is required for nominations. Paper ballots will be used if more than one board member is nominated.
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1.1.2. Election of Vice President
Rationale:
Nominations for the office of vice president will be accepted. No second is required for nominations. Paper ballots will be used if more than one board member is nominated.
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1.1.3. Election of Secretary
Rationale:
Nominations for the office of secretary will be accepted. No second is required for nominations. Paper ballots will be used if more than one board member is nominated.
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1.1.4. Appointment of Secretary to the Board
Rationale:
Kay Streeter, Dawson County School District #20 Business Manager, has served as Secretary to the Board and has agreed to continue in this role approved by the Board of Education. Mrs. Streeter should be authorized to sign checks for the following funds: Student Activity Hot Lunch Petty Cash Student Fees Employee Benefit Depreciation |
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1.1.5. Appointment of Board Treasurer
Rationale:
Mr. Randy Waskoviak, First State Bank, has served as Board Treasurer and has agreed to continue in the role if approved by the Board of Education.
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1.2. Adoption of Order of Business
Rationale:
The adoption of an order of business to guide the preparation of future agendas and conduct of meetings as defined in the 2000 series policies. The following policies are included for reference and have already been approved but are formally accepted at the beginning of each calendar year as the order of business.
2000 Series Index Policy 2001 - Role of the Board of Education Policy 2008 - Meetings
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1.3. Review of Board/Superintendent Operating Protocol and Organizational Structure
Rationale:
It is important to review the board/superintendent operating protocol and the organizational structure each time the board reorganizes.
A successful board and administration alignment can be defined as a connected group of individuals working together, not as separate entities, but a team with clear purpose and understanding of roles with a common goal of making decisions that are in the best interests of students, staff, and community. The Board and Administration are not in competition with each other but are competing to meet the individual and collective needs of students. There is no action required. This is an informational item only.
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1.4. Review Chain of Command
Rationale:
Board Policy 3035 outlines that the superintendent shall be in control of all school district operations except as provided by another policy or as otherwise provided by law. Linked here is the administrative chain of command, working from the lowest level in the chain upward.
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1.5. Discussion of Standing Committees for 2024
Rationale:
Standing Committees 1. Personnel / Negotiations 2. Facilities & Transportation 3. Finance 4. Committee on American Civics 5. Policy Policy 2002 outlines that the board shall authorize such special committees as it deems necessary. The board president shall appoint members to the committee, and designate its function, tasks it is to perform, and completion date for its work. After the initial appointment, positions can be modified by a majority vote of the board.
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1.6. Distribution of Conflict of Interest Policies and Forms
Rationale:
The final task under the Realignment of the Board of Education for 2024 is to disseminate the conflict of interest policy and the associated form.
Policy 2005 outlines a Conflict of Interest when a board member has a business in which the board member or a member of his or her immediate family is a partner, a limited liability company, stockholder, or serves as a director or an officer for a business that could potentially benefit from board action. There is no action needed.
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2. Call to Order & Pledge of Allegiance
Rationale:
Mission Statement: A copy of the open meetings law is posted on the wall of the Board Room and is available to the public. |
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3. Approve the Agenda
Rationale:
The Board reserves the right to rearrange the order of items as needed.
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4. Recognition of Visitors
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4.1. Public Participation
Rationale:
Board Policy 2009 - Opportunity for Public Expression. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION INSTRUCTIONS FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC WHO WISH TO SPEAK: This is the portion of the meeting when members of the public may speak to the board about matters of public concern.
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5. Action Items
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5.1. Consent Agenda
Rationale:
1. Approval of Previous Minutes 2. Approval of the Treasurer's Report 3. Approval of the Warrants / Bills a. Petty Cash b. Student Activity c. Hot Lunch d. Bank Statement e. Summary of Accounts and Receipts f. Monthly Expenditure Report g. Check Journal 4. Excuse Absent Board Members 5. Consider Option Enrollment Requests
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5.2. Personnel
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5.2.1. Consider the resignation of certificated staff.
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5.2.2. Consider approval of contract(s) for certificated staff.
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5.3. Discuss and consider approval of the Negotiated Agreement with the Gothenburg Education Association for the 2024-2025 school year. (Executive Session Possible)
Rationale:
A tentative agreement between Dawson County School District #20, Gothenburg Public Schools and the Gothenburg Education Association was reached through the negotiation process. The agreement represents an increase of 3.29% on the total compensation package. Comparability for this negotiations cycle was based on total compensation including salary, insurance, retirement and social security and was calculated using staff employed by the district in October of 2023. Certificated staff compensation is based on comparability with schools of similar size and who are located within a similar geographic area. The comparability was completed by KSB Law.
The Gothenburg Education Association has ratified the proposed agreement.
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5.4. Discuss and consider approval of HVAC units from depreciation funds.
Rationale:
We have had several units go down this fall that needed to be replaced. Depreciation funds are set aside for the eventual purchase of costly capital outlays by reserving such monies from the General Fund. These five units totaled $73,700. For transparency purposes we couple depreciation fund purchases with board action to ensure everyone knows how the depreciation dollars are spent. Classrooms that were updated include Beavers, Massin, Koehn, Wrestling Room, and Koehler.
In the first seven months of our service contract we have saved $5,100.98 over list price for labor and materials. The overall cost of the contract was $13,836 and we have five months remaining. |
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5.5. Discuss and consider approval of bid packages for the HVAC and Lighting Renovations in Phase II
Rationale:
Bid packages were received for the following subcategories:
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6. Policy & Procedure
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6.1. Appoint Superintendent as Non-discrimination Compliance Coordinator and Title IX Coordinator.
Rationale:
Annually, the district must appoint a Non-discrimination Compliance Coordinator to meet federal Equal Employment Opportunity requirements and a Title IX Coordinator.
Additional information can be found the Policy 3057 - Title IX.
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6.2. Discuss and consider updates to Policy 4033 Tuition Reimbursement.
Rationale:
Through the negotiations process, we had more conversations regarding the tuition reimbursement policy that was passed two years ago. The policy committee, in coordination with the personnel committee, would like to make a few adjustments to this policy.
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7. Informational Items
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7.1. Teacher Vacancy Survey from NDE
Rationale:
Each year, the Nebraska Department of Education creates a Teacher Vacancy Survey to help school districts understand the current dynamics of open teaching positions across the state. This year's findings continue a very concerning trend.
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8. Reports
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8.1. Board of Education Reports
Rationale:
Committee Reports (Chair in bold)
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8.2. Administrative Reports
Rationale:
1. Topic Specific Administrative Reports
2. General Administrative Reports a. Elementary (Mrs. Floyd) b. High School (Mr. Ryker) c. Activities (Mr. Mroczek) d. Special Populations (Mrs. McKenna) e. Teaching and Learning (Mrs. Richeson) f. Superintendent (Dr. Jonas) |
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9. Next Meeting
Rationale:
Monday, February 12th, 2024
Swede Activities: 7th & 8th Grade Boys Basketball @ Home - 4:30PM Girls Varsity Sub-Districts - TBD |
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10. Adjournment
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